


Royal Secret

by mtjester



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-03
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-03-28 21:57:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3871189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mtjester/pseuds/mtjester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Today, you’re going to fit in like a pro.  No one is going to suspect a thing about your illustrious heritage, no siree.  You’re like any other college student, and for once, you actually feel the part!  It’s been a rough month and a half since the semester started, but you’re really starting to get a handle on this “average Joe” thing.  Or should you say…average Jane?  Hoo hoo!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Royal Secret

**Author's Note:**

> From this prompt: “i’m a prince/ss from a small country nobody’s heard of and i’m in college pretending not to be royal and you’re another student who’s always calling me out on my bs” janetav please!
> 
> Trying to flush out the janetav tag.

Nondescript outfit: check. Nondescript backpack: check. A few dollars for lunch: check! Today, you’re going to fit in like a pro. No one is going to suspect a thing about your illustrious heritage, no siree. You’re like any other college student, and for once, you actually feel the part! It’s been a rough month and a half since the semester started, but you’re really starting to get a handle on this “average Joe” thing. Or should you say…average Jane? Hoo hoo!

The only problem is your first class. Or, more specifically, someone in your first class. By all accounts and appearances, Tavros is a rather dimwitted person. Pleasant, certainly, and a charming lad to be around, but, well…slow on the uptake. You would think he’d be the easiest to fool into believing your elaborate charade! But he always seems to notice something. And so innocently, too, like he doesn’t even mean to. It drives you up the wall! On the first day of class, you walked in and sat down next to him, as nervous you could be, and what did he say? “Oh, wow, your hair is so fancy! You look like Snow White. I really like it.” And you sat there cursing yourself for the rest of the hour, because it had plumb slipped your mind that you would have to change your hairstyle when you got here. Apparently the average college student doesn’t use curlers! And just the other day, he was so kind as to accompany you to lunch, and you could feel him watching you eat. You knew what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth. “Uh, not to sound weird, or maybe creepy, but the way you eat is really captivating, like a movie star, or maybe some kind of royalty.” Confound it, but nobody else had said anything before! How does he notice? Do you act differently around him? Or does he watch you more closely than anyone else does?

Today, you’re going to be perfectly normal. Years of etiquette training, right out the window, and all shadows of regal demeanor to follow! You slump into the room with the worst posture you can manage and drop into the chair next to Tavros, running your fingers through your loose curls. You’re wearing sweatpants, for heaven’s sake. Although, to be fair, you do like sweatpants and have fully embraced that part of your new lifestyle. Still, no one could mistake you for a princess. No one.

“Uh, Jane?” Tavros says, and you turn to him. He’s wearing a quizzical expression that’s usually reserved for confusing course material.

“Yes?”

“Are you…sick, or not feeling well to any degree? Because you look, uh…disheveled, or at least a little under the weather.”

Drat. Did you overdo it? “Why do you say that?” you ask, trying to appear as nonchalant as you can.

“Well, uh…usually, when you sit, especially in class, you have really nice and elegant posture, that makes you seem attentive and generally confident, in an enviably effortless manner.”

Damn! “Do I?” you ask.

“Oh, yes, definitely,” he says with a nod. “At least, I think so.”

“And…is it really very noticeable?” If Tavros has noticed, surely everyone else has. All this time, you thought you were being sneaky, and you’re starting to think you were obvious all along! 

“Uh, well,” Tavros says, and you notice a slight if puzzling change in his body language, “maybe to some people, more than to others, it might be noticeable.”

That proves it. He’s onto you. Maybe he actually knows something about your country? As shocking as that would be, it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility. Perhaps he recognized your hairstyle that first day as a popular hairstyle in your own country, or perhaps it was something more subtle. Do you have an accent? Maybe your perfume? Did he maybe see a picture of you in some obscure magazine? Maybe he studies culture and politics as a hobby. He wouldn’t necessarily need to be observant in that case, just well informed. And he does like to read. He always has some fantasy novel or another in his backpack. You sigh.

“You caught me,” you say, adjusting yourself to sit more naturally. “Really, I didn’t expect to be found out this quickly!”

“Uh…found out?” he asks.

“I’ll come clean, but not here. Perhaps we could grab some coffee after class somewhere quiet and have a chat about it?”

His eyebrows rise, but you can see a glint of excitement in his eyes. He’s probably been waiting for the chance to confront you, the cheeky bastard! “Yes, okay,” he says. “I would like that very much.”

You nod. Of course he would. Who wouldn’t want to get in with royalty? But then again, Tavros seems like the kind of guy who would keep your secret without taking advantage of you. In fact, the more you think about it, the more you feel relieved. This could be the start of a much needed alliance for you, and you suspect Tavros will be glad to share your secret with all the support and encouragement he’s been so happy to give up until now. You find yourself looking forward to the end of class. Tavros, if the way he sneaks glances at you says anything, feels the same way.


End file.
